Marquee Matchup Homer overcomes Quincy, 66-62

Friday

Jan 17, 2014 at 8:00 AM

By Gary Baker@TDRsports

QUINCY — What a show.The marquee match up of Thursday night was a battle between the top two teams in the Big Eight — Quincy and Homer — and it was worth the price of admission.The game came down to the final moments, as the visiting Trojans were able to overcome an early deficit, topping the Orioles 66-62. With the win, Homer remains atop the Big Eight Conference with a 5-0 conference mark and an 8-0 overall mark. The Orioles fell to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play.Quincy held the lead nearly the entire game until a pair of layups from Alex White put Homer ahead 62-59 with about two minutes left in regulation. Quincy trimmed the deficit down to a point (62-60) with a free throw from Nick Haberl.On the next sequence, Haberl drew an offensive foul on White, but Quincy couldn't take advantage, as Jake Rider's layup attempt rolled off the rim at the other end.Moment's later, Haberl drew his fourth offensive foul of the night — again on White — who left the game with five fouls. Quincy called a timeout with 49 seconds left to talk it over. On the ensuing possession, Logan Miller dribbled into the paint and his shot was off the mark.Homer got a break with an intentional foul call on Haberl, which led to a pair of free throws and a 64-60 lead. After another Quincy miss, Homer got back to the line again and hit two more. Michael Tesch closed out the game with a bucket for the Orioles.The game was won — and lost — at the free throw line; as Quincy shot 15 of 34 from the stripe while Homer was 27 of 40. The game's intense pace only grew as time wore on, and despite losing, the game was fun for Quincy coach Scott Rodesiler."I'm proud of the kids for their intensity and giving all they had," said Rodesiler. "It was a fun game against good competition."At one point in the third, Quincy led the game 40-28, as it looked like the Orioles were ready to pull away, but Homer closed the third quarter with a 15-8 run to get within five points after three quarters. Homer outscored Quincy 23-14 in the fourth to take the game."You can't let a team like Homer stick around," said Rodesiler. "We gave them chances. Free throws are fixable errors."After taking a 16-13 lead into the second quarter, Quincy went on a 7-2 run to build a 23-15 lead. Quincy was able to use their defense to help the offense, as a number of baskets came off turnovers and fast breaks. The aforementioned Nick Haberl — who drew four offensive fouls on the night — seemed to be the ignitor on the defensive end for Quincy."Nick stood out as a spark for us," said Rodesiler. "But everyone on our team played great and they deserved to win."Haberl led quincy with 14 points, five rebounds and a steal; Jake Rider had 13 points and six boards; Jimmy King had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block; Chase Cook had two points and four assists; Michael Foehr had five points; Logan Miller added six points, three assists and a steal; and Michael Tesch had nine points and 10 rebounds.Homer's Alex White led all scorers with 23 points and Dylan Thomas added 16.Quincy is at Bronson next Tuesday night.In junior varsity action, Quincy lost 44-37. Quinn Eifrid led with 24 points, Kalen Stahl added seven points; and Nathan Karney and Logan Widlitzki added three points each.In girls' action, North Adams defeated Tekonsha 45-18. DeVanie Eckardt led Tekonsha with eight points and four steals; Alexis Newbold had six points and six boards; Mya Kavanaugh had eight rebounds and Taylor Renfro had two points and six boards.The Jonesville/Union City matchup at Union City was cancelled, as Jonesville was unable to travel. The game will be played on Jan. 21 in Union City.